Ski tow



July 21, 1953 H. F. swENsoN sx1 'row 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. '7. 1949 Suvenfor (Ittorneg aa;mm .IUE

July 21, 1953 H F.' swENsoN 2,646,005l

sx1 Tow Filed Feb. 7, V1949 s sheets-sheet 2 l Snnentor l10n/gy .Swenson 8;

Gttorneg H.- F. swENsoN 2,646,005

SKI rrow July 21, 1953 Filed Feb. 7, 1949 3 sheets-sheet;

-E 1g- 1U- INVENTOR. Harve E Swenson Patented July Y201, 1953 UNITED STATES .PATENT "OFFICE "SKI TOW I Harvey F. Swenson, Seattle, 'Wash.

Application February 7, 1949, 'Serial No."7'4,'929

This invention relates to a ski tow, andparticularly a ski tow which is` portable to 'permit the same to `be moved at will to and from any area in which skiing operations are being `carried on. The general object is to provide a machine of this nature made sufficiently compact 'and light Vin weight to enable the same to be carried in the trunk or upon the roof rack of Van automotive vehicle and hence permitting the machine to be transported with ease to and from snow areas, and which, however, is of sturdy construction and will give long and trouble-free service under the demands of heavy-duty usage. The machine of the present invention is made self-suiiicient to perform all the Work required .of a portable ski-tow, and this is tosay that the machine carries its own power plant and derives from this plant the power necessary for mobile travel over snow-covered ground to and from thegiven site of a skiing operation as wellas the power for performing its intended ski-.lift function `when located upon the` site, and it is a 'p further and ,particular object to provide a skitow embodying a perfected rope-engaging drum the use of which permits each of these two necessary operationsmobile traveland the pulling of skiers-to be accomplished with greater efficiency than .has been heretofore possible.

It is a further object still Vto devise a ski-tow machine incorporating, as an adjunct Vof the drum, an improved system of rope guides functional to reduce liability of rope chai-lng to a `substantial minimum.

The invention has the yet further and important object of providing a ski-tow machine vhaving the rope-engaging drum spring-tensioned to effectively cushion and level oif shock forces to which the drum is subjected in course vof skilift operation as various skiers successively take hold of `and drop oif the tow line.

Still further .objects and advantages will, with the foregoing, appear `and be understood Lin :the course of the following description Vand claims, the invention consisting inthe novelconstrucr tion and in the vadaptation and combination :of

vgineand therope-engaging drum which is powered thereby ydeleted fromthe View.

Fig. '3 isa fragmentary top plan view conned to an illustration of the rope guides `and the guard which houses said drum, this View including a fullline `showing of the tow-,lift rope passing 4about the guides andthe housed'drum andV additionally incorporating a dotted-line showing of the rope which is employed to move the ski-tow, the two being perforce used separately.

Fig. 4 `is a yfragmentary elevational view illustrating the drum and the guard which houses the same,'the,point from-which these parts Vare viewed being immediately to the rear of the guard. The rope `is deleted vfrom 'this gure land the drum is shown partly in elevation and partly in transverse vertical section. Fig. '5 is 'a detail elevational view of the drum with parts broken away and shown'in section and including a fragmentary portrayal. of the 'ski-lift rope.

Fig. 6 is a 'fragmentary elevational view of the rope-guide structure.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view portraying, schematically, the manner in which the ski-lift rope feeds ,throughthe rope guides and about the drum.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional .view on line 8 8 of Fig. 3.

.Fig. 9 is a somewhatschematic fragmentary top plan view portraying the machine of the present invention the performance of its ski-tow function; and

Fig. 10 is a similarly schematic fragmentary top plan View illustrating the said machine as itis being moved cross-country by lits own power to Vthe site of a ski-tow operation.

Accordingv to the present invention, there is provided a `toboggan-like bed member designated Aby .the numeral I0 havingthe curved front conventionally trussed by -rope stays Il, these stays extending along the sides and serving the added `end of'hand holdswhen applying the machine vto or .removing the same from -a car rack or the like.

Extending transverse vto this bed member at ,spaced intervals of the lengthare aseveralty of lcross-cleats which I indicate as being ve in number. Threerof ,these cleats, denoted I2, i3l and I4,

serveonly astiifening oflice while'the remaining two cleats l5 :and l`61serve theadded functionof pillow members :to rigidly vsustain a frame-work kupon which .the power mechanism of the ski-tow Vis slidably supported. Such frame-work is fabricated from `two longitudinal framing members l1 and I8 located one ladjacent one andthe other adjacent the other side-edge limit of the bed member, and each of these principals desirably comprises a length of metal tubing turned up at the front end and having the head ends of these upstanding sections connected by a transverse angle-iron I9. Pulleys 20 and 2|, each journaled to turn about a vertical axis, are carried by this angle-iron and are placed one toward the center and the other laterally removed therefrom. lThe said principals I1 and I8 are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to'the cleat I5 and have their rear ends socketed in thrust cups 22 which are welded in place and bear against the flange of an angle-iron rigidly secured in surmounting relation to the cleat I6, and finding a rigid footing upon this angle-iron is an upstanding post 23 which is made from a looped length of metal tubing. The post is used only when the ski-lift is inactive and then serves to carry a spool (not shown) on which the lift rope is wound. Y

Supported by the two principals I1 and I8 for limited movement longitudinally of the toboggan is a carriage comprised of tubular slides 24 and 25 sleeved upon the principals, and cross-ties 26 and 21 integrated with the tubular slides. Each of these slides is flanged at both ends, and received upon the principals I1 and I8 between the cleat I6 and the rearwardly placed flange 28 of said slides are compression springs, as 30 and 3l, acting upon the carriage to urge the same forwardly, the spring travel being limited by engagement of the forwardly placed ange 29 against cleat I5. The stiiening cleat I3, Which occupies a position between cleats I and I6, is provided in its upper face with saddle notches to give clearance for the free endwise movement of Y the tubular slides.

The engine for the ski-tow, designated by 32, is

.rigidly bolted to the cross-ties 26 and 21 of said carriage and operates through gears contained in a transmission case to drive an output shaft 33 so located as to project laterally from one side of the engine, and made rigid with the exposed end of this output shaft is a drum presenting, at one end thereof, a gypsy-type spool 35 and, at the other end, a pair of circumscribing grooves 36 and 31. Rearwardly of the drum and welded to the carriage or otherwise made a rigid part of the latter is an upright plate 45 serving as a mounting for a severalty of guide pulleys, five in number, which are each journaled for rotation about a transverse horizontal axis. One of these guide pulleys, hereinafter termed the intermediary pulley and designated 4I, is somewhat largerthan the others and occupies a position more or less central to longitudinal vertical planes projected through the two grooves 36 and 31, and the other four pulleys, hereinafter termed lead pulleys, are in sets of two staggered both vertically and horizontally as respects each said set and with one said set located above and the other said set located below the intermediary pulley. The two pulleys 42 and 43 of the upper said set occupy a longitudinal vertical plane common to the groove 36 and the two pulleys 44 and 450i the loWer said set occupy a longitudinal vertical plane common to the groove 31. -As a complement to the said lead pulleys, a fair-leader 46 made from a looped length of metal tubing'is welded or otherwise xedlysecured to the mounting plate 4I] at the rear-end limit of the latter.

The drum of the present inventionY is suitably guarded by a housing 41 open to the side adjacent the engine and closed at theopposite or outer side by a hinged door 48, and this housing is provided in its front wall with a transversely extending slot located on a horizontal tangent of the power ltake up all possible slack in the rope.

heads spooling drum 35. The edge of this slot, to protect against rope chang, is marginally lined with a U-shaped rod 50 made circular in cross-section.

Assuming that it is desired to move the ski-tow cross-country to a selected skiing site, a length of rope 5I (200 ft. being recommended) is carried by one end out along the projected line of travel and tied within the reach of the rope to any suitable anchoring instrumentality. Where a standing tree, as 52, is available, such is commonly used as the anchor. Where barren of standing trees, a portable snow-tree is employed. Snowtrees, as commonly known, are comprised of a length of fiat plate, board or the like having one or more cross-arms at the bottom, and the procedure is to drive this tree well down into the snow, leaving the upper end exposed. The rope is anchored to this exposed end. The engine of the ski-tow is now started and, with the door 48 of the guard housing 41 open, the loose end of the anchored rope is given an S-loop first around the center pulley front-end 2l) and then back and around the outer pulley 2l, following which the trailing end is given a running loop around the gypsy spool 35. As this running loop is pulled taut, the drum is caused to frictionally take hold and will then run along the length of the rope, the speed being governed by easing oi or taking up on the loose end of the rope. During this operation the free end 53 of the rope trails out over the ground to the rea-r of the toboggan and this operation is repeated until the sled reaches the desired location, either at the top or the bottom of the skiing site. In either case the sled is disposed to have its front end point rearwardly, and which is to say with the rear end pointing toward the course along which skiers are to be towed. The rope 54 used for the ski-lift is usually 1000 ft. in length, determined of course by the length of the hill, and the extremities are spliced to make the same endless. At the end of the hill opposite the ski-tow machine the rope passes about the pulley of a snatch-block 55 anchored to a tree or the like 56, and at the ski-tow end the endless ropes other extremity is connected to the ski-tow machine. The manner of this connection is to have the incoming run 51 of the rope pass through the fair-leader 46 and thence between the two lead pulleys 44 and 45 of the lower guide set, whence the same takes a halfturn about the power head in the related groove 31 and thence is brought back and about the intermediary pulley 4I and a half-turn is again taken about the power head, this time in the other groove 3B. From the groove 36, the outgoing run 58 of the rope passes between the lead pulleys 42 and 43 of the upper guide set and thence out through the fair-leader 46.

After connecting the rope to the ski-tow by said procedure of feeding the rope through the several said pulleys iand about the power head, a chain 59 .or the like is then looped around the front pulleys 20 and 2| and this chain tied to lone end of a block-and-tackle 60, the other end of the block-and-tackle being anchored to a suitably placed snow-tree or, if a standing tree is available, to the latter. In the illustration I portray a standing tree 6I as being employed for the anchor. The machine is pushed by hand to Then, through the use of the block-.and-tackle, the skitow rope is drawn somewhat tighter and in such a degree, more especially, as will put the springs 30 and 3| under minor tension holding flanges 29 out of stop contact with the cleat I5. The

machineis nowready forxuse andytheaenginetcan be startedup. During :use of :the fski-tow, fthe lift rope will stretch somewhat `and it .isimportant that this stretch be ycompensated for'fby periodically Ltaking up on `the block-and-tackle to confof its employment, and :the advantages :thereof will have been clearlyunderstood from theiforegoing detailed description of mynow vpreferred embodiment. .-It :is :self-evident that departures will suggestthemselves and it v.'ismy intention,

therefore, that no `limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims begiven a scope fully commensurate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed,languagenfairly admits.

What I claim is:

l. In a ski-tow, in combination with amounting base, san engine supported .upon 'the mounting base for bodily shifting movement in a direction longitudinally of the base, aspool .carried 4by and powered from the engine and .arrangedto .frictionally engageandpropelonefend of vanendless tow rope having its other .endpassingeabout a tail` pulley, andmeans functionalupon the Jengine to yieldinglyfresist loads on vthe tow rope tending to draw thespool in the direction of the tail-pulley. v n

2. In aportable ski-tow, in combination Iwith a toboggan serving as la mobile mounting, an engine-driven spool supported .upon the base vfor bodily shifting 'movement in a directionlongitudinally of thelatter and arranged"tof-frictionally engage and propelioneend ofanendlessv -tov/'rope having its other end .passingabo'u't a tail pulley, and means functional .upon Lthe spool 'to Iyieldingly resist loads on the .tow rope tending .to draw the spool in the direction ofthe tail pulley.

3. In a portable ski-tow,1in combination vwith a toboggan .serving as a'mobilemounting, a cartending 5to fdrawlthe .carriage .in the direction of Ythe .tail pulley.

15. .In va ski-tow, in combination with laterally spaced tubular members serving :las .the .longitudinal principals of a mounting frame,-a carriage including tubular members sleeved for 'end- Y .wise movement upon Ysaid tubular frame princi- .riage supported for 'relative longitudinal movement upon ythe toboggan, fan engine-driven 'spool .journal-mounted .upon .thecarriage and arnanged to frictionally enga-ge and propel one end of van k bolted to the carriage, an engine-driven .output shaft movable bodily with the engine and projecting laterally therefrom, .a spool fast to the projecting .end of said output shaft and arranged to engage and propel one end of an endless tow .rope having its other end passing. about :a tail pulley,.and .spring devices bearingupon l.the carriage and yieldingly resisting .rope-,loading stresses pals.. an enginebolted tothe carriage, anenginedriven output .shaft movable bodily with the engine-and projecting laterally therefrom, a spool `fast :to the projecting-end of said output shaft 'and 'arranged to frictionally 4engage and .impart ski-tow travel-to one end of an endless tow rope Yhaving its other `endpassing about a tail pulley,

and spring `devices so bearing upon the carriage 'astoyieldingly resist rope-loading. stresses tend- `ingzto vdraw the engine base inthe direction .of .the tail pulley.

6. .A ski-tow according to vclaim 5 having a toboggan bed serving as a mobile mounting for .the frame and 'withsaid toboggan being stiffened at spacedintervals of `its length by `transverse 1 cleats.

7. A ski-tow according to claim 6 in which the Aspool is provided at one end with 'a gypsy-type drum accommodating a running loop'of rope for vgiving mobile travel tothe ski-tow by powerde- 4rived from the engine `andrat thefother end with "a peripheral groove .separated from the `gypsy drum and serving when the 4ski-tow is .employed in the .performance of its ski-tow function to receive a turn of the .tow-'rope for frictionally driving the latter.

l8. In afski-tow, in combination with aztoboggan .serving as a/mobile 'mountingan engine-driven spool .sustained upon Athe `toboggan `and provided at one end with a gypsy-type drum accommodatingarunning loop of rope for giving mobile 'travel to the ski-tow by power derived'fromthe engine and upon the other end providing ar pair of .separated circumferential grooves serving when the ski-tow .is employed in the performance of its ski-tow function to receive successive half-turns of an endless .tow-.rope for frictionally driving the latter, and a guide pulley complementing said grooves and acting to take a half-turn of the towropeas it leaves one of said grooves and feedv the same back .to the other groove.

9. Structure according Ato claim 8 in which the other end of the .endless tow-rope .passes .about a remote tail pulley, the spool and the guide pulley vbeing supported for unitary 'bodily shifting movement in the general plane of the tow-ropes ski-lift travel, `and spring devices so associated with said ,spool .and guide pulleyas to yieldingly .resistloads on the tow-rope tending to draw the spooland pulley in the directionof `the tail pulley.

10. In a ski-tow, in combination: an enginedriven journal-mounted spool formed to provide .separated circumferential grooves each acting to receive successive half-turns of an endless tow-rope for frictionally driving the latter, the other extremity of the 'endless .tow-.rope being caused lto pass .about a tail pulley, a journalmounted guidespool .complementing said grooves and acting to take a half-turn of .the tow-rope as it leaves one of said grooves and feed the same back to the other groove, fair-leader devices for guiding the incoming Vand outgoing runs of the tow-rope onto one and off the other said groove,

one ofsaid `spools admitting to bodily shifting' .movement in the-general-plane of the tow-ropes fski-lifttravel, andfspring devices functional upon said shiftable spool-.to `yieldingly maintain a tensioning .take-11p .on .the :tow-rope.

' Y 11. n a ski-tow, in combination with a toboggan serving as a mobile mounting, an enginedriven spool sustained upon the toboggan and provided at one end with a gypsy-type drum accommodating a running loop of rope for giving mobile travel to the ski-tow by power derived from the engine and upon the other end providing a pair of separated circumferential grooves serving when the ski-tow is employed in the performance of its ski-tow function to receive successive half-turns of an endless tow-rope for frictionally driving the latter, a guide pulley complementing vsaid engine-driven spools and acting to take a half-turn of the tow-rope as it leaves one of said grooves and feed the same back to the other groove, and sets of paired pulleys one said Set receiving the incoming run of the tow-rope therebetween and operating to guide the same to one of said grooves and the other said set receiving the outgoing run of the tow-rope therebetween to guide the same off the other said groove, the pulley sets being journalmounted to occupy positions in the general plane of the related groove.

12. In aski-tow, in combintaion with a toboggan serving as a mobile mounting, a machine frame sustained upon said toboggan and comprised of tubular principals fixed to the toboggan and extending longitudinally of the toboggan adjacent the side edge limits of the latter, tubular slides sleeved for endwise sliding movement upon the tubular frame principals, cross-bars connecting said tubular slides and serving with the latter to produce a carriage, an engine mounted upon said carriage and presenting a laterally projecting output shaft,` a spool fast to the projecting end of said output shaft and arranged to frictionally engage and propel one end of an endless tow-rope having its other `end passing about a tail pulley, and compression springs also sleeved upon said frame principals with one end taking a purchase from the toboggan and the other end bearing against the carriage to yieldingly resist rope-loading stresses tending to draw the engine base in the direction of the tail pulley.

13. In a ski-tow, in combination with a toboggan stiffened at spaced intervals of its length by cross-cleats and serving as a mobile mounting, longitudinal frame principals each tubular in cross-section rigidly pillowed upon the crosscleats to occupy positions at each side of the toboggan with the front ends curved upwardly and stiffened across the angle by reinforcing struts,

an angle-iron cross-bar connecting the head ends of said curved front ends of the frame principals, an engine base supported by said frame principals, an engine bolted to the base and presenting a laterally projecting output shaft, a spool fast to the projecting end of said shaft, a housing guarding the spool, said housing being open to the rear and having a comparatively Vnarrow slot in the front wall, laterally spaced guide pulleys supported by the cross-bar for rotation about a respective vertical axis with one said pulley disposed forwardly of the guard housing in longitudinal alignment with the front-wall slot, and guide pulleys disposed rearwardly of the guard housing in longitudinal alignment with the rear opening of the latter.

14. The structure of claim 13, in which said front-wall slot is lined along the edge by a bar of circular cross-section for minimizing chafing of a rope passing therethrough.

15. In a ski-tow, in combination with a toboggan serving as a mobile mounting, an enginedriven drum sustained upon the toboggan for rotation about a transverse horizontal axis and provided with two axially spaced spooling surfaces oneof which spooling surfaces is arranged to take a running loop of rope and give mobile travell to the ski-tow by power derived from the engine and the other of which spooling surfaces functions to receive successive turns of an endless tow-rope for frictionally driving the latter, and a pair of pulleys, the two pulleys serving a double purpose, one when the second-named spooling surface is to be used for imparting skitow travel to the tow-rope at which time the two pulleys take the bight of a looped chain having the two ends brought together and connected to a localized snow-tree for anchoring the toboggan, the other when the first-named spooling surface is to be used for taking a running loop of rope at whichtime said rope is guided to the spooling surface by being passed rst about the pulley which lies on the center line of the toboggan and then laterally to and about the other pulley supported by the toboggan to occupy transversely spaced positions removed longitudinally from the drum and each journaled to turn about a respective vertical axis, one of said pulleys being located on the approximate longitudinal center line of the toboggan and the other of said pulleys being transversely offset from said center line, the drum being so placed upon the toboggan and having its two spooling surfaces so spaced and positioned as to locate the first mentioned spooling surface in approximate longitudinal alignment with the transversely offset pulley and to locate the last mentioned spooling surface in approximate longitudinal alignment with a point located intermediate the two pulleys.

16. In a portable ski-tow, in combination with a toboggan serving as a mounting platform, an engine-driven drum sustained upon the toboggan for rotation about a transverse horizontal axis and providing a spooling surface arranged to frictionally engage and impart ski-tow travel to one end of an endless tow rope having its other end passing about a tail pulley supported to occupy a position remote to the position occupied by the toboggan, and a pair of pulleys mounted upon the toboggan at the end thereof distant from the tail pulley and journaled for rotation about vertical axes one removed laterally to one side andthe other removed laterally to the other side of a vertical plane projected longitudinally of the toboggan through said spooling surface, the two pulleys acting in concert to take the bight of a looped chain having its two ends brought together and connected to a localized snow-tree for anchoring the toboggan.

17. In a portable ski-tow, in combination with a toboggan serving as a mobile mounting, an engine supported upon the toboggan, and separately employed Co-axial spools driven in unison by the engine and serving in the one instance to accommodate a running loop of rope having its other end anchored at a distant point, thus to give mobile travel to the ski-tow by power derived from the engine, and serving in the other instance to frictionally engage and impart skitow travel to one end of an endless tow-rope having its other end passing about a tail pulley anchored at a distant point, means being provided upon the toboggan attachable to an anchor for holding the toboggan against movement when the ski-tow is being employed to give said ski-tow travel to the towrope.

9 18. In a portable ski-tow, in combination With a toboggan serving as a mounting platform, an engine-driven drum sustained upon the toboggan and providing a spooling surface arranged to frictionally engage and impart ski-tow travel to one end of an endless tow rope having its other end passing about a tail pulley supported to occupy a position remote to the position occupied by the toboggan, and a pair of pulleys mounted upon the toboggan at the end thereof distant from the tail pulley and journaled for rotation about vertical axes one removed laterally to one side and the other removed laterally to the other side of a vertical plane projected longitudinally of the toboggan through said spooling surface.

19. In a portable ski-tow, in combination with a toboggan serving as a mobile mounting, an engine supported upon the toboggan, and separately employed co-axial spools driven in unison by the engine and serving in the one instance to accommodate a running loop of rope having its other end anchored at a distant point, thus to give mobile travel to the ski-tow by power derived from the engine, and serving in the other instance to frictionally engage and impart skitow travel to one end of an endless tow-rope having its other end passing about a tail pulley anchored at a distant point, means being provided upon the toboggan as a complement to the two spools and acting, when the second-named spool is performing its intended function, to take one end of an anchoring line having its other end secured to a snow-tree occupying a, localized position spaced to the rear of the toboggan and, when the first-named spool is performing its intended function, to guide the rope to the rstnamed spool, said means being characterized in that the function of anchoring the toboggan s0 disposes the line of pull that the snow-tree is placed in a vertical plane defining the substantial path along which` the tow-rope travels in its movement toward and from the concerned spool and the function of guiding the rope so disposes the rope that the same is brought to the toboggan along a vertical plane coinciding With the longitudinal median line of the toboggan.

HARVEY F. SWENSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Wallace June 9, 1942 

